When the Broncos signed Peyton Manning, they didn't get a quarterback, they got an offense. Manning is an iPhone app at the line of scrimmage. He's the zigzag of the finger to create a straight path of success on Temple Run.

What he did Monday night in San Diego conjured up images of John Elway, if not Tim Tebow. The Broncos clumped through another first half, trailing 24-0 to the Chargers.

No team has ever come back from that type of deficit on the road. So this was a loss. Then it wasn't. Manning, whose arm seems to loosen up as the game progresses, providing more finish on his throws, couldn't miss in the second half. And the Broncos' defense turned Philip Rivers into a panicky mess. He was like a kid in a water balloon fight, firing indiscriminately and recklessly toward targets.

The game's signature moment came in the fourth quarter when Manning hit Brandon Stokley on a 21-yard-touchdown pass, chest-shoving the Broncos ahead. This was so Manning. He recognized the defense, audibled and delivered a dagger.

Tebow was easier to appreciate than explain. It's simple to connect the dots with Manning. He's smarter than everyone else.

What Manning does — and there will be a connection to the Rockies, I promise — doesn't always show up on stat sheets or in fantasy points. Just getting under center, he makes a difference. His presence demands accountability from teammates, especially receivers. Either you get on the same page with him or you watch from the sideline.

It brings me back to a conversation with Rockies first baseman Todd Helton last spring. Manning was looking for a team, and everyone wanted to know how his surgically repaired neck was progressing. Helton had worked out with Manning at Duke under the watchful eye of their former college coach David Cutcliffe. They ran passing patterns, and Manning didn't hesitate to complain about Helton's routes. Or the lack of precision from the interloper college kids who wandered by to help out during the drills.

Photos: 2012 Rockies

As Helton talked, Manning's "Saturday Night Live" sketch about the United Way took on a much deeper meaning — "Bring it in. Except for you, I can't even look at you right now. Go hide in the Port-a-Potty," Manning chided a kid in the skit.

He's Peyton DeManding.

He's that chemistry professor in high school that piled on homework. You complain, then realize a few years later that the information actually stuck.

There's a lesson in here for the Rockies as they look for their next manager. They've lost the little details in the big picture. Clubhouse culture and altitude issues have been among the too-consuming concepts. The new field boss, regardless of his lack of power, has to create more discipline and accountability (yes, that applies to the front office as well). You can't be awful at baserunning, bunting and defense and insist that coaches are doing fine. Some players are challenged and young, but that can't be a blanket explanation.

If the Rockies are going to have a pedestrian payroll by choice, then the coaching staff must wring out every ounce from the existing players and pitchers. Stars must be stars — that isn't happening in New York, which explains their current mess — but role players who underachieve can be equally deflating.

When Mark Wiley eventually takes the director of pitching operations job and gets a pitching coach in place, that's a start. Guys such as Esmil Rogers, Franklin Morales, Felipe Paulino and Jeremy Guthrie can't go backward when there are no viable replacements in the minors.

In 2007, the Rockies featured contributions across all levels, which created a unity and mental toughness that hasn't been matched since.

There has to be a fear factor, an edge, a healthy impatience. Losing breeds comfort and selfishness. Players care about their own stats more than wins. They don't have to say it. It happens every year across major-league baseball on losing teams.

One player can't change a baseball club, save for an ace starting pitcher every fifth night. In football, the quarterback is pivotal. A single Manning still demonstrates what the Rockies need: a maniacal desire to compete and win, without excuses.

Lockheed says object part of 'sensor technology' testing that ended ThursdayWhat the heck is that thing? It's fair to assume that question was on the minds of many people who traveled along Colo. 128 south of Boulder this week if they happened to catch a glimpse of what appeared to be a large, silver projectile perched alongside the highway and pointed north toward town.

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